| "So how about it Holmes? Ready to match wits?" — Lestrade, "The One Percent Solution".
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Gareth Lestrade was a Scotland Yard Inspector where he worked with Sherlock Holmes.
Biography
Background
According to Holmes, Lestrade was "the best of a bad bunch" among those few Scotland Yard detectives who agreed to work with him. Although Lestrade was, in Holmes's words, "utterly adequate" as a detective, Holmes was often scathing about his limitations, so the two men were not close, despite their professional respect for each other.
Because Holmes always preferred to work anonymously, he allowed Lestrade to take the credit for solving their cases, and eventually Lestrade became addicted to the glory that accrued. Lestrade himself said that those days were the best time of his life, though he denied being a glory hound, and instead simply reveled in the satisfaction of being a successful detective.
Season Two
| After Holmes was incapacitated by his drug addiction, Lestrade found himself struggling to work on his own and, according to his superior, DCI Hopkins, began to cut corners for the sake of closing his cases. This came to a head when Lestrade investigated the murder of Mary Pendry, whom her husband, Lawrence, claimed had been killed by a home intruder. Lestrade suspected Lawrence himself, but could not prove it. Lawrence's father, Warren Pendry, a media mogul, employed his newspapers, and a substantial amount of money, to "paint a very ugly picture" of both Lestrade and Scotland Yard, forcing Lestrade's superiors to suspend him. When Warren died, Lestrade took revenge at his funeral by threatening the mourners with a grenade, besmirching Warren and then disappearing. This resulted in Hopkins calling Holmes to London to find Lestrade.
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| Holmes finds Lestrade in a pub, waiting for a security guard to go off duty so he can raid a stash of money left behind by Holmes. He convinces Holmes to help him with the Pendry case before turning him into Scotland Yard. ("Step Nine")
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| ("The One Percent Solution")
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| Several weeks after being fired by Dick Balsille, Lestrade is still at the Brownstone where Romulus has taken a dislike to him. Although he has offers from investigation firms, he can't decide. After being mugged, Watson confronts him about drinking at the Brownstone. He admits he's lost his confidence and can't be a special detective without Holmes. Watson gives him the police case file on muggings that have happened in the area, hoping to rebuild his confidence. Lestrade tracks down the mugger to his home and knocks him out. His finds a rooster feather on the floor and believes this was a setup by Holmes. He confronts Holmes who admits to a setup (even though there wasn't one) and Lestrade announces that he's accepted a position with the Irish National Police. ("Ears to You") |
Trivia
- His phone password is the last year that Tottenham Hotspurs won the F.A. Cup (1991). ("The One Percent Solution")